Friday was the major day for the event, with keynote speeches from several companies including Film Victoria, the Game Developer Association of Australia, Auran, IR Gurus, University of Ballarat and Blue Tongue Entertainment. The keynote speeches were held on a stage and one of the first keynote speeches was from one of Australia's largest developers, IR Gurus. Leading Programmer for IR Gurus Thomas Mayer provided a background on the history of IR Gurus and provided an insight into what IR Gurus are into for in potential employees. Mayer went on to explain that programming at home and creating your own portfolio can be advantageous to potential employees. Mayer also suggested that aspiring developers use the Linux on the PlayStation 3 or the Xbox 360's XNA software to practice. One of the interesting tips Mayer provided was that IR Gurus actually requires applicants to set a test as part of the interview process.
Where the event took place.
After a presentation from Film Victoria, two Auran employees presented Fury on stage. It was during this speech that one of the employees remarked that Fury required two to three months of polishing. Auran are getting the word out about Fury and had eight computers set up running Fury. Fury was the only as yet unreleased game on the showfloor, so it was rather popular. We had a chance to go hands on with the game and even though I'm not the greatest fan of player vs player battle titles, it was hard not to be impressed by the combat in Fury. Auran finished their presentation by providing more insight on what you'll need to become developer. Here's a hint: get a study score of at least 25 in Maths Methods and English and you're halfway there.
After Auran's keynote speech a Blue Tongue Entertainment employee also presented a speech on his experiences getting into the game industry and provided a background on Blue Tongue Entertainment. The rep presented videos on Blue Tongue's previous work and confirmed that the company is currently working on a new IP for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. It's very rare for Australian developers to be able to develop a new IP, so this is a great boon for Blue Tongue Entertainment and Australian development. It was also confirmed that the company is working on a Wii title. With all this work it is no wonder that Blue Tongue is hiring.
The presentation area.
Aside from the keynote speeches there was a little bit to do around the hall if you're interested in development. The University of Ballarat was on show as was the Academy of Interactive Entertainment; who were running computers showing off some incredible animation work. PALGN also had an opportunity to take a sneak peek at currently unsigned Nintendo DS platformer Slidatron from Endgame Studios. It's shaping up rather well and we'll have a preview later on in the week.
Saturday was an event for playing games. There were no keynote speeches scheduled and there were plenty of games to play including Ricky Ponting, Prey, Burnout Revenge, Wii Sports and Virtua Fighter 5. The only unreleased game on the show floor was Fury, which was getting a lot of attention from plenty of gamers. A few retailers also had a presence such as Gametraders and GAME, which has just launched a few stores in Victoria.
Overall the Ballarat GIG seems like it was quite a success. The event obviously didn't compare to large scale events such as the eGames and Entertainment Expo but this wasn't the overall aim of the event. There isn't a lot of information out there for people interested in game development and events like these are crucial for bringing attention to the fact that there are courses available for those interested in game development and there are plenty of developers all over Australia who are employing now.
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